Aislinn Konig Passed over in WNBA Draft

ACC tournament MVP Aislinn Konig was hoping to be selected during Friday's WNBA draft, but she was passed over in all three rounds. Did the cancellation of the NCAA tournament hurt the NC State star's chances of showcasing her skills to the league's coaches and general managers?

Missing out on the NCAA tournament cost Aislinn Konig one final opportunity to help the NC State women’s basketball team get over its Sweet 16 hump.

But it also may have cost her an opportunity to showcase her talents on a big stage for the WNBA’s 12 coaches and general managers.

The ACC tournament MVP suffered another postseason disappointment on Friday when she was passed over in all three rounds of the league’s draft.

Konig handled the snub with the same kind of poise and maturity she showed on the court during her four seasons with the Wolfpack, Tweeting: “Works not over. #TrustTheProcess.”

The 5-foot-10 combo guard from Canada averaged a career-high 11.0 points per game in 2019-20 while leading the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.27) against conference opponents and earning second-team All-ACC recognition.

Her leadership and three-point shooting helped lead the Wolfpack to a 28-4 overall mark, a school record 14 regular season ACC wins and State's first conference tournament championship since 1991.

Konig finished her college career as the 34th Wolfpack player to surpass the 1,000 point mark and her career total of 294 three-pointers places her second on State's all-time list.

Despite going undrafted, Konig should still have opportunities to continue her basketball career professionally either as a free agent or internationally, according to former State star and ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli.

“Her international credibility brings something to the table. Her ability to shoot the ball and score,”Antonelli said earlier this week. “The way that she can stretch the floor and her ability to play the point and have a big point who can see over the top of most pick-and-roll defenses, and all the ball screen defenses. I think those help her.

“Defensively will be a little bit of an issue, but if you look at just flat out offense -- score, handle, high IQ, played in a fast system where you had to make decisions on the ball. I think all those things are really important.”

ACC players that were selected in Friday's draft include Virginia's Jocelyn Willoughby, Louisville's Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook, Duke's Leaonna Odom and Holly Gorecki, Miami's Beatrice Monpremier, Clemson's Kobi Thornton and Florida State's Kiah Gillespie.